Progress Energy delays new reactors until 2024

摘要

In its annual filing with the Florida Public Service Commission of its nuclear cost recovery clause projections, Progress Energy on May 1 stated that the two Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors planned for a greenfield site in Levy County, Fla., have been rescheduled. Under the revised schedule, the first reactor would begin commercial operation in 2024, and the second unit 18 months later (which, depending on when in 2024 the first unit starts, could be 2025 or 2026). This is a delay of roughly three years from the previous target, and the resulting change in escalation and carrying costs raises the project's cost estimate to the range of $19 billion to $24 billion, an increase of roughly $2 billion.